The Sledding Tournament
by Pinkiemachine
Summary: This is a story that I am writing for a writing competition... need I say more?
1. Chapter 1

**Team: Earth Kingdom**

 **Story: Drabble**

 **Round 4: Completion**

 **Propmt: Penguin**

 **Word Count: 490**

Sokka zoomed over the ice and snow faster than a leopard seal. The cold air rushed passed him and stung his face, but he hardly noticed. He only cared about the exhilaration he felt as he flew down the snowy mountainside on his trusty penguin, Mushi.

Suddenly Katara, riding her own penguin, appeared out of nowhere and slid right passed him, spraying fresh powder into his face.

"Keep up, slow poke!" she yelled over the rushing wind.

"Oh, you are not getting away that easily!" Sokka grumbled to himself. Leaning all of his weight forward, he began to speed up to the point where the landscape was barely visible. Everything blurred together into one white mass, but one thing remained in sight: Katara. There was no way Sokka was losing this time! This was it!

He veered off the course after a minute, heading instead for a large outcropping of ice that had protruded from a great glacier. The ice was extremely slick here, and he almost lost control a few times, but he kept it together long enough to launch himself off of the icy ramp and into the frosty air. He literally flew over the mountain, heart racing, and landed right on top of Katara!

They collided with a THUD! and then they began to role down the hill in a massive heap of arms, legs, penguins, and an ever growing ball of snow. Before they knew it, they had reached the bottom of the mountain and hit the ground hard, breaking them up a bit.

"I wiiiin..." said Sokka shakily from beneath the pile.

"What was that?!" Katara shrieked, dusting snow off of her robes.

"I took a shortcut!" Sokka explained, crawling out into the sunshine and removing ice from his boots.

"If that's a shortcut, then I'm a hippo-cow," said Katara sarcastically. "You've really gotta get your game together if you're going to have any chance in the sledding competition."

"Well not all of us can use magic powers to make us go faster!" cried Sokka.

"You think I cheated?!" Katara retorted.

"No, all I'm saying is—"

Meanwhile, a few feet away...

"Oh boy, they're at it again," said Zuko, as he watched on from a safe vantage point.

"What, crashing, or arguing?" Toph asked as she sat by a nice, warm fire and munched on leopard meat.

"Mmm, both actually," Zuko replied, walking over and sitting down.

"Bet you five gold pieces they keep it up for a solid minute," said Toph.

"You're on."

"Look out below!" Aang suddenly appeared out of nowhere on his own penguin and crashed into the massive snow bank, sending an avalanche of white ice showering over everyone.

"Oh, that's just great!" Katara yelled.

"Oh please, you wouldn't know great if it bit you on the—"

"They still at it?" Toph asked, wiping snow out of her face.

"Yup," Zuko replied.

"Heh, he... better get your wallet ready, Zuko!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Team: Earth Kingdom**

 **Story: Themed**

 **Round 4: Completion**

 **Prompts: (action) riding something, (emotion) furious**

 **Word Count: 2,104**

"Helloooooo Southern Water Tribe!"

The crowds roared and cheered in the icy snow of the frozen south as the announcer's voice crackled through the air. "Whooooo's ready for some EXTREME PENGUIN SLEDDING!?" Again the crowd cheered. "We've got a great day of sport ahead for you! Three rounds of intense competition, between the world's finest athletes! Round one will be a standard race that will measure our contestants' INCREDIBLE SPEED! Round two, with it's intense obstacle course, will measure their LIGHTNING FAST REFLEXES! And finally, round three, where everyone gets to show off their unique style in the FREESTYLE HALFPIPE! Now get ready for round one of EXTREME PENGUIN SLEDDING!"

"Ha ha! Today's the day! I can't wait to shred some powder!" Sokka said excitedly as he waited for the competition to begin. "You ready, Mushi?" He looked down at his penguin companion and smiled. Mushi just stared back at him blankly. "Yeah, you're ready, I can tell!"

"Hey, Sokka!" said Aang as he walked up to them. "I bet you two are gonna do great today!"

"That is, if he can actually make it down the mountain this time," Katara said, coming up behind them.

"We'll see who's laughing when I win!" Sokka retorted.

"Who said anything about laughing? I was't laughing..." said Katara as she began to walk away. " _You're going down, Sokka!"_

"Did you say something, Aang?" Sokka asked.

"No, I didn't say anything," he replied.

"All racers, to the STARTING LINE!" the announcer bellowed.

Sokka looked as though he might burst with excitement. "Come on, Aang! It's about to start!"

Meanwhile, at the base of the mountain among the crowds of cheering on-lookers, Zuko, Toph, and Suki sat in the Firelord's private box, anxiously awaiting the start of the race.

"I really hope none of them get injured up there," Suki was saying as she looked up at the snowy mountain with worry in her eyes. "I mean, Sokka's already injured his arm once, and you know how it can still hurt sometimes... Oh! I hope nothing bad happens!"

"Knowing him and Katara, something probably will," Toph said bluntly. Zuko suddenly elbowed her in the rib cage. "What was that for?!" Zuko motioned to Suki, then gave her a look that said 'Come on! Seriously?' Not that it made much of a difference to Toph.

"Nothing bad is going to happen," said Zuko, reassuringly. "Besides, it's just sledding. How 'extreme' can it get?"

"I'll bet you ten silver pieces this whole thing spirals outa control?" Toph offered.

"Deal," said Zuko as they shook hands on it.

Suki sighed. "I'm gonna go get some seal on a stick. Anybody want anything?"

Back at the top of the mountain, the racers are lining up, positively shaking with anticipation.

"All right, Mushi!" Sokka said as he strapped on his snow goggles. "This is it! Are you ready?"

"Brrrrr...rrrahrr...!"

"Good enough."

"Racers ready...? On your marks... get set... GO!"

The racers were off like rockets pelting down the icy snow! In the first few moments, it was impossible to tell who was in the lead through the flurry, but as they continued, it was clear to see that Sokka was the one in front. Although he was battling for his position with another racer.

"Oh, you think you're gonna pass me? But you can't pass me!" Sokka said tauntingly over the noice. "You can't pass me! You can't pass me!" Something whizzed by and nearly knocked both of them off their penguins. "What just passed me?!" As Sokka looked on, he could see his sister smiling smugly and waving back at him. "Oh, no you don't! Mushi! FULL SPEED AHEAD! AAAAAGGHH!"

"So how do you think it's going?" Toph asked, back in the royal box.

"I dunno. It's kinda hard to see what's going on from down here," said Zuko as he strained to catch a glimpse of some of the racers.

"After this, I'm gonna take you guys mud racing. At least then I'll be able to see," said Toph, longingly. There was a long pause as they waited in their seats for something to happen. "So... how's your wallet feeling?"

"I FEEL LIKE I COULD ARM WRESTLE A WHALE!" Sokka shouted to the wind; heart racing with adrenaline! He was catching up to Katara, but she still held a good lead. He had to put everything he had into this race, or it would mean defeat!

"Hey, Sokka!" said Aang as he smiled and waved beside him.

"Aang?! What the—" Suddenly, Sokka was hit smack in the face by a lump of snow. This distracted him long enough that he didn't see a surprisingly large hump in the track before him. He launched into the air and landed hard as he and Mushi went spiralling out of control down the mountain.

"Sorry!" Aang called.

"And the winner of round one iiiiiiiiiss... KATARA!" The crowds roared their approval.

All the racers came to a stop at the midway point in the track. There was still much mountain to go down, but for now, they could take a moment to prep themselves for round two.

"...aaaaaaaaaAAAAHAHHHaaaaaaaa..." that was the sound everyone heard when Sokka flew by, sliding on his backside trying to grab hold of Mushi as they careened out of control.

"Oh, uh... okay, everyone, round two starts NOW!" the announcer shouted.

Katara grunted as she leaped onto her penguin again and sped off down the mountainside.

Back in the royal box...

"Hey, Toph?" said Zuko, smiling to himself. "I'll bet you _fifteen_ gold pieces that Katara wins the next round as well!"

"Oh ho! You sure you wanna make that bet, fire-boy?" Toph said, grinning as well.

"Why not?" Zuko continued.

"Deal!" said Toph, smacking her hand into his. "This is gonna be good!" There was another long pause.

"Hey, what's that coming down the mountain?" Zuko asked curiously. "It looks like a big cloud of snow...?"

That, as a matter of fact, was Sokka as he sped over the ice. He had a hold of Mushi, and was now working on mounting him again. Fortunately for him, he managed to pull himself upright just as he approached the obstacle course. He was barely able to miss the large wooden poles and puffy bags filled with light snow as he tumbled through the course.

Suddenly, he spotted Katara out of the corner of his eye. She was close behind him. There was no way he was losing now! After ducking passed a swinging boulder, he saw a half-bar pole coming right at him. If he ducked under it, he could lose momentum, and he wasn't sure how well he could jump over it.

While he was worrying about all this, he wasn't looking ahead and bumped into one of the wooden poles which accidentally fell down and knocked over one of the puffy bags. When it landed right it front of him, the seem split and fresh powder spilled everywhere, in the shape of a perfect ramp. Sokka had little time to react as he zipped up into the air!

"And the winner of round two is the amazing FLYING SOKKA!"

Sokka landed awkwardly, but recovered quickly, and breathed a sigh of relief when he stopped. As he stood on shaky legs, he looked out at the adoring crowd cheering his name.

"Sokka! Sokka! Sokka!" they roared.

"Yes! Ha ha!" he shouted in victory. "In your face, Katara! Wooooo!"

Meanwhile...

"What?!"

"Pay up, Zuko!" Toph said, smiling broadly. "All fifteen pieces, if you please!"

Zuko grumbled as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small sack of coins, then threw it at Toph.

"Owch!" she cried as it hit her on the head. "Thanks," she said flatly.

Zuko sighed. "I wonder what's taking Suki so long?"

Elsewhere, at that very moment...

"What do you mean you're out of seal meat!?" Suki exclaimed in front of the seal-on-a-stick-cart. "You only sell one thing!"

"Sorry, Miss, but that's that," replied the cart owner.

"You mean to tell me that I waited fifteen minutes in line for nothing!?"

"Well, if you really want, I can fry up some more, but it'll take a while."

Back at the second midway point...

"There you are, you cheater!" cried Katara as she marched up to her brother.

"Cheater?!" Sokka repeated incredulously.

"You got a head start!" she continued.

"I did not! And if anyone's the cheater, it's you! Don't think I didn't notice that little trick you did with the snowball to my face!" Sokka yelled.

"I did no such thing!"

"Guys, guys! Hang on a minute!" Aang said as he rushed up to them. "What is going on?"

"Katara's cheating, that's what!" said Sokka, folding his arms.

"No, Sokka's just a poor sport!" Katara retorted.

"Both of you, knock it off!" Aang yelled. "This game was supposed to be about having fun, but look at you two! You're squabbling worse than two lemur-monkey's fighting over a grape-nut!"

"Well, none of this would have happened if Katara hadn't used her bending to cheat!"

"Excuse me?! You're just jealous that I'm a better sledder than you!"

"Gimme a break! You just don't wanna admit that I'm better at sledding than you! That's why you always have to cheat!"

"Oh, come on! It barely takes anything to beat you! Let alone cheating!"

"ENOUGH!" Aang shouted; so loud that echoed all around them. He was so furious with the two of them that his face was turning red. "Both of you stop it! Or else—"

Everyone was suddenly quiet. The ground began to shake, and the sound of a distant rumbling filled the air. They all looked up to see an avalanche of snow begin to spill down toward them.

"I call truce!" Katara shouted.

"Agreed!" said Sokka as all three of them rushed over to their penguins and leaped onto them, followed by the other racers. Soon, all of them were sledding for their lives!

By the time the sledders had reached the halfpipe, the avalanche was three yards away. Very soon, it began picking off racers, one by one; swallowing them up into its icy, white expanse.

"Come on, Mushi! Faster! FASTER!" Sokka shrieked.

"Sokka?" Katara yelled. "Just in case... I wanted you to know that your the greatest brother any girl could ask for!"

"And you're the greatest sister, Katara!" Sokka yelled back.

Then, a wave of snow washed over them and pummelled them as it thrashed them down the mountain!

"I'm still waiting," said Suki impatiently.

"Well excuse me, Miss, if I want to make sure that you'd getting the finest quality meat there is to offer!"

Suki sighed and folded her arms.

Sokka's brain felt like mush as he tumbled up and down and backwards and forwards, and upside down. He didn't know how much more he could take.

Then Aang came riding his penguin over the avalanche, using his air bending for a little extra boost, and landed right in front of the river of snow. He smacked his staff down hard onto the ground and a wave of powerful wind pushed the snow back, unmasking Katara, Sokka, and the others in the process, all just before the avalanche enveloped the crowd at the base of the mountain.

"Is everybody okay?" Aang asked.

"And the winner of round three is AVATAR AANG!"

Toph held out her hand, palm side up, and Zuko smacked the ten silver pieces into it roughly.

"Ha Ha! You've just been robbed by the Blind Bandit!" Toph laughed.

"Oh, come on! Our friends just survived an avalanche, and this is where your mind goes?!" Zuko cried.

"...pretty much," said Toph. "Hey! Seems like twinkle-toes won!"

"What do mean I won?" Aang asked the announcer as he handed him a large, golden trophy.

"It means that you had the most awesome moves out there today! The judges' votes were unanimous! That was wicked knarly, dude!"

"Wait, wait, wait!" said Sokka as he came over. "What are you talking about, 'awesome moves'!? What about 'The Flying Sokka'?!"

"Sorry, dude, but it just wasn't your lucky day."

"It's okay, Sokka," Katara said, walking up beside him. "At the end of the day, at least we all had fun, right?!"

"Yeah, I guess we did," Sokka said, managing a smile.

"And that brings us to the end of another EXTREME PENGUIN SLEDDING TOURNAMENT!"

"Woohoo! You go, twinkle-toes!" Toph called out from the booth.

Just then, Suki came back in with two handfuls of steaming hot seal sticks. "Did I miss anything?"


End file.
